


good to you

by salamoonder



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Emetophobia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Percy is a bit of an asshole, Sickfic, Stomach Ache, Vomiting, kinda???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:29:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salamoonder/pseuds/salamoonder
Summary: Vax eats too much, and Vex has to deal with it.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III & Vax'ildan, Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Vax'ildan & Vex'ahlia (Critical Role)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	good to you

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for any mischaracterizations/inaccuracies, I'm still very early on in C1. Mind the tags!

Vex wakes suddenly, sure she’d sensed something but not certain on what, exactly. She rolls away from Trinket to glance around the camp; Percy’s on watch alone, motionless and attentive. She turns back towards Trinket; his form rises and falls slowly with each long breath. Asleep. She sits up, moving with painstaking stealth, and listens.

There’s a low noise somewhere vaguely near her. She goes still, listens again. It’s not Trinket; he’s not even snoring. She sits up on her heels, enough to see over her bear just a little. Vax is leaning against him on the other side, sitting up. There’s a weird spot where Vax’s dark hair folds against Trinket’s until even with her dark vision they seem to blend together.

The noise happens again; definitely a moan, definitely coming from Vax. Vex stands up and leans heavily into Trinket’s side, enough that she can reach over and poke Vax in the back of the head.

“Vex!” he hisses, rounding on her. “What the fuck, you scared me.”

“You woke me up,” she retorts.

Vax rolls his eyes and turns back around to slump against Trinket. “Well, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“Can’t now, I’m already up.”

Vax groans--and Vex isn’t entirely sure if it’s at her, exactly. She tiptoes around Trinket, scratching his ears as she reaches his face, and slides down next to her brother on the other side of her bear. She notices Percy cast an eye towards them, but she holds a finger to her lips and he turns away, nonchalant.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I told you to go back to sleep.”

Vex’s mouth twists. He’s staring out into the Underdark, not looking at her. “What’s wrong, Vax?”

“Nothing. I-” Vax hisses sharply and curls in on himself, and Vex immediately goes into emergency mode.

“What the hell? When did you get hit?” She starts to reach for him, but he pulls away.

“ _ Don’t-- _ ” he slowly uncurls, unwrapping his arms to display his unbloodied torso in a movement that should be far easier than it looks to Vex. He looks almost...guilty? No. That’s not it. “I didn’t,” he tells her, face grim. “I’m fine. I just...my stomach hurts.”

Vex blinks, pulling her hand back. A slow grin spreads over her face. “Oh my gods, are you serious? You actually had me worried. I  _ told _ you it was insane to challenge Grog in an eating contest, you can’t even beat  _ me. _ ”

“Shut up,” Vax grumbles. “Are you going to go back to sleep now?”

Vex shrugs. “If I feel like it.”

Vax flips her off and slides further down Trinket. Vex glances towards Percy to make sure he’s not going to walk over. He’s glancing in their vague direction while trying to look like he’s not looking. She catches his eye and shakes her head, and he shrugs.

She turns back to Vax, who is trying subtly to hold his stomach with his right arm--presumably so she won’t see. His hand is shaking. She starts to say something, and then stops. The Underdark is eerily quiet; so quiet that she can hear Trinket and the others breathing.

Vax scoots a little closer to her and starts to turn his head towards her, and she automatically lifts her arm to pull him in. “You sure you’re okay?” she asks, trying to leave most of the teasing out of her voice.

“ ‘M fine, don’t worry about it.” His voice is muffled in the fold of her cloak, but even through them he sounds sleepy. Petulant.

“If you say so.”

They sit like that, not quite awake and not quite asleep, until Vax lets out a sharp, surprised whine and suddenly grips Vex’s arm.

“Vax…?”

“I’m  _ fine _ .”

“The bruise that’s gonna be on my arm tomorrow says otherwise.”

Vax sighs and pulls away from her, turning to face out into the dark. “I’m good, Vex, I’m good. I’m sorry.”

Vex just waits.

Vax draws his knees up to his chest and tucks his head down, a gesture that Vex would usually interpret as “okay, get out of my room now”, if he hadn’t been hugging his belly with both arms and rocking back and forth ever so slightly.

“Fuck, okay, no, I’m not, I just--” Vax runs his hands briefly along his arms and then back down, and a low pained noise escapes from his throat. “It’s not worth worrying about, it’s my fault anyway, and…”

“Vax. Do you feel sick?”

He turns to look at her with what can only be described as abject misery on his face, and she feels a stab of pity. He’s always hated being sick, even when they were small, but he especially hates being nauseous, and nothing scares him more than throwing up. She tries not to psychoanalyze her brother too much (it often hits too close to home), but she’s sure it’s got something to do with his incessant need to be in control. It’s why he’s gotten so good at scouting without any input from the rest of VM. It’s why they’ve had so many fights about Percy. Judgemental asshole.

More importantly, though, it’s why he’s so fucking miserable right now.

“Hey. Hey, c’mere. I won’t tease you. I promise.”

Vax leans back against Trinket again and Vex curls herself around him, careful not to knock into him too much. His skin feels too hot, and he’s breathing too hard. He closes his eyes and hangs his head, and she scrapes her nails through his hair, trying to distract him.

“Why did I eat that much?” he whispers.

“Cause you’re an idiot?”

“Thought you said you wouldn’t tease me.” Vax swallows hard. “Ugh.” He presses a hand lightly to the swell of his belly and then removes it, like he can’t decide if it’s worse to be touching it or not. Vex can actually hear it churning and grumbling.

“Well, I lied. I won’t tease you...too much.”

She expects him to jump into the verbal sparring (it’s how they get through Pike setting broken bones; they both have a very high pain tolerance, but they’re not infallible) but instead he shifts uncomfortably for a few seconds before finally tangling his fingers in her cloak, wrapping his other arm ever so gingerly around his stomach.

“Do you want me to wake Pike?”

“No, she’s not gonna do anything...I’m not technically injured…”

“You’re in pain.”

Vax hiccups. “Gods. Gross. I mean...yeah, it hurts, but…”

“That’s not what’s bothering you?”

“No, it’s…” Vax breaks off into a hiss, and Vex feels his grip on her cloak tighten. The light’s still not good, but she can feel his face flushing. “You know.”

“Aww, Vax.” She drags her hand back through his hair, pausing to cradle the back of his neck. “You know, you’d feel so much better if you just got it over with?”

Vax shakes his head. “Can’t. Won’t.”

“You’re stubborner than I am.”

“Not true. You’re insufferable.”

Vex allows herself a small smile before Vax cries out again.

“Okay, it does hurt, too, and the fact that it hurts is not helping.”

“The two of you doing okay?” Percy calls, low enough that he won’t wake the others but strong enough to carry.

“Fine, Percy,” Vex calls back, in the interest of keeping Vax from stabbing her when he feels better. “Do you want some water?” she asks Vax, more quietly.

Vax shrugs. “It can’t hurt.”

“Okay.” Vex disentangles herself from her brother and leans over to retrieve her satchel from where it lies between Trinket’s front paws. She digs around for her waterskin and hands it to Vax, who takes it gratefully.

Percy’s definitely watching them now. Vex just narrows her eyes at him, but doesn’t say anything. She wishes Vax weren’t quite so intent on being a martyr literally any time he feels less than perfect.

“Ah. Fuck. You know, I think maybe it can hurt,” Vax says, grimacing.

“Are you okay?”

Vax hands her the waterskin wordlessly, then presses his hand back to his belly. “Feel...not good. Mmph.” He wipes his mouth shakily with the back of his wrist. “Ohh, I don’t like this. Vex. Um.”

“Yes?”

“I’m.” He shakes his head. “Ugh, it’s all sloshy. I just--”

“Do you need to be sick?”

He nods, and she can see tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

“Okay, let’s...let’s get a little further away from camp.” She slides an arm under his shoulders, expecting a snarky comment about there being nothing wrong with his legs, but Vax just swallows back a gag. They’re stumbling a little further away from the group than she would like, but she doesn’t want to wake anyone up and she knows Vax certainly would rather not attract attention. When they’ve gotten a considerable distance, he lets go of her arm and lowers himself slowly to his knees. She sinks down next to him and sets a hand lightly on his shoulder, not wanting to overwhelm him.

“Vex,” he chokes.

“I’m right here. It’s alright, Vax.”

“I don’t want to. I can’t.”

“It’ll be over in, like--thirty seconds. I’m pretty sure you’ve stuck your hand in a flame longer than that.”

“It  _ hurts _ ,” he whimpers.

“I know, darling. I know.”

“What the  _ hell _ are you two doing?” Percy whisper-shouts, and Vex’s hand goes straight for her quiver before a combination of Percy catching her wrist and the recognition of his voice catches up to her.

“Vax is sick,” Vex says. “Could you--you know--go away?”

“No, I can’t,” says Percy crossly. “I was  _ worried _ ,” he adds, with a glance at Vax.

“Vex, it’s fine,” Vax says.

Vex gets back down to his level, ignoring Percy for the moment. Her brother sounds exhausted.

“D’you want more water?” she asks. He shakes his head.

“You know,” Percy says, “if you need help, I wouldn’t mind sticking my finger-”

“ _ Percy, _ ” Vex says sharply, over Vax’s noise of mingled disgust and discomfort. “Although,” she adds to Vax, “It’s really not a bad idea. You’re so--well-”

Vax holds up a hand weakly, and Vex stills. “Please,” he says. “Please, for the love of the gods, just--shut up for five seconds.”

Vex glances at Percy, who looks just as grim as she feels. Vax waves his hand vaguely in their direction until he catches Vex’s shoulder, using it to steady himself.

“I hate this so fucking much.”

Percy gives Vex a Look, an “I’ve watched this guy endure unimaginable horrors and he’s worryingly distressed over a stomachache” kind of look, but all she can do is sort of grimace at him.

“Vax…” she starts quietly, and pauses when Vax makes a choked noise to rub his back. At first she thinks he’s actually finally puking, but...no.

He’s just crying.

She puts a hand on his belly, wincing at the immediate yelp that comes from even a feather-light touch. “Fuck, Vax.” She can feel the muscles in his stomach spasming and shuddering in a way that has to be absolutely agonizing. She can only imagine the degree of fear that’s giving Vax the misguided self-control to keep it all down. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous.” She’s keeping her voice soft, but part of her is hoping that Percy will jump in and say or do literally anything useful. (He’s gone quite silent and still where he’s standing, arms folded and looming over them. The only betrayal of concern is the slight twitch in his right eye.)

Vax lets out another choked sob and flinches away as Vex makes an attempt to rub his belly, and something snaps in her head. “ _ Vax’ildan. _ You’re hurting yourself.”

“Leave me alone,” he mumbles, but he’s still leaning heavily on her shoulder.

Vex looks up at Percy, who finally kneels on the other side of Vax.

“Alright, this is ridiculous. You’re upsetting your sister and you’re upsetting me. You’re hurting. I don’t like watching that.”

Vax starts to say something, but before he can manage it Percy reaches out with characteristic agility and presses his hand hard into Vax’s swollen stomach. Not enough to hurt him normally, but far too much in his current sensitive state.

The result is immediate. Vax pitches forward onto his hands, and Vex lunges to catch him around the chest before he can fall prone. He gags once and then heaves all over the unnaturally hot stone of the Underdark. Vex tries to gather most of his hair away from his face; fortunately, it’s already somewhat thrown back. His face is paler than Vex has ever seen it, and tears are streaming down his cheeks.

“You’re alright,” Percy murmurs, and Vex can see over her brother’s back that Percy’s caught his other shoulder and still has one hand on his belly, pressing much more gently as Vax sobs. “I know. It really is horrible. I’m sorry. You’re alright, I promise.” He shoots Vex a nervous look, as if he expects her to snap at him, but she just gives him a slight nod. There are only so many battles she can pick tonight.

Vax’s heaving settles after a few minutes, but as he sits back on his heels he’s still crying hard enough that he can’t catch his breath. Percy wordlessly hands his flask over, and Vax takes a sip, swishes, and spits before handing it back to him, barely even glancing at him. He folds himself into Vex’s arms without a thought.

“I know, dear,” she soothes. “I’m here.” He’s shaking, still trying to hold back the occasional whimper of pain. “You can’t  _ do _ that,” she sighs, trying not to sound too condescending. “You’re going to damage yourself. No one wants that.” She catches Percy’s eye over his shoulder; to his credit, he doesn’t look uncomfortable or grossed out, merely attentive. It’s how he loves them, she knows. Waiting for instructions.

“My belly still hurts,” Vax mumbles, when he’s quieted enough to form words. “I’m still--I still feel sick. But I’m  _ not... _ I don’t wanna do that again. I’m so tired, Vex.”

“It probably still hurts because you won’t fucking listen to your own body, you’re giving yourself cramps...” Vex bites off the rest of her sentence, trying not to let the concern sharpen her tone. She sounds way too much like their mother. “I’m sorry. Let’s just...let’s just get you to sleep and if you don’t feel better in the morning, we’ll talk to Pike.”

“She’s not--”

Vex cuts him off. “I don’t care, she’s a healer, she can think of something.” Before he can protest any further, she braces her arms around him and lifts him to his feet. She’s not quite strong enough to carry him, but Percy automatically takes his other side and they all stagger back to camp with relative speed. Percy helps her lay Vax back along Trinket’s side (who, bless him, hasn’t even stirred through this whole ordeal) and then hovers anxiously.

“Go wake up Kiki for watch, darling. Go to sleep. I’ve got him.”

Percy frowns as though he’s going to disagree, and then seems to think better of it. He drops a kiss on Vex’s forehead and then, after the barest of hesitations, does the same with Vax. “Feel better,” he orders sternly, and walks off.

As soon as Percy is gone, Vax wraps his arms around his sister and sniffles. Vex smooths his hair away from his face, and then bunches up the sleeve of her cloak to wipe his face.

“Vax?” she whispers.

“Yes?”

“Do you remember the first night we slept in the Keep?”

There’s a moment of silence. Then, “ ‘Course I do.”

“You remember how I had to come over to your room?”

“Mhm.”

“I’m glad you didn’t tell me I was being childish.”

Vax snorts. “I wouldn’t.”

“All the same.”

“I love you, Vex.”

“I know. I.” She sighs, and rests her chin on top of his head. He lets out a soft noise of contentment. “I love you very much.”


End file.
